Time Well Spent

Three Deeply Felt Learnings

 

            Through my research, readings and experiences in the Capstone course, I have learned:

 

1-“The happiness of any society begins with the well-being of the families that live in it” (Laureate, 2011). This quote from Kofi Annan articulates the importance of the family unit, whatever its structure, in any society, regardless of culture.

 

2- . “Our accomplishments are a reflection of what our relationships have allowed us to achieve” (Zero to Three, 2011). We are only as good as our interpersonal relationships with our team. No one is an island and no one can conquer the world (or safely run a Preschool classroom) alone.

 

3- According to Derman-Sparks and Olsen Edwards (2010), “although a family’s economic resources do not determine how much they love their child nor how skilled they are at parenting, a lack of resources can make the fundamental necessities for their children’s healthy growth and development-safe housing, nutritious food, and regular healthcare-very difficult or impossible to get” (p 101). It’s not what you have, but who you are that counts. Families with fewer resources are just as valuable and worthy as those with plentiful resources. It is important to view a family according to their strengths and respectfully, and compassionately helping them to obtain the tools to tackle their challenges.

 

 

One Long Term Goal

            My long term goal as an early childhood professional is to continuously cultivate a positive attitude, patience, kindness and compassion. I would like to positively influence everyone with whom I interact.

 

Farewell Message

            Farewell to Dr. Teri and my dear colleagues. I wish all of you the best in the future in both your personal and professional lives. Thank you for all of your encouragement, feedback, ideas, and opinions. Namaste!

 

 

 

 

 References

 

Derman-Sparks, L., Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves. Washington, DC:     NAEYC

 

 

 

Laureate Education. (producer)(2011). Merging Passion, Vision and Practice. [multi-media presentation]. retrieved from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6990/01/mm/ec_pres/index.html

 

Zero to Three. (2011). What is reflective leadership? Retrieved from http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/areas-of-expertise/reflective-practice-program-development/what-is-reflective.html

 

International Career Opportunities

 

 

 

 

 

UNICEF

http://www.unicef.org/

 

Why I chose this organization: UNICEF has been a prominent figure in international relief efforts for decades. This organization is involved in many aspects of assistance to those in need; including nutrition, health and immunizations, life skills, promoting human rights and gender equality, education, disease prevention and the promotion of breastfeeding. UNICEF’s efforts and values are in line with my own; with children and families as their priority.

 

Job Opportunity: Program Officer, Level 2-Manage, coordinate and supervise program and small or medium country office. Formulate, design and facilitate, and manage projects.

 

Qualifications: Master’s Degree in relevant field or equivalent professional experience in a developing company (2-3 years entry level, 5- years mid-career). Proficiency in English plus another UN working language is also required.

 

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.unicef.org/

 

Save the Children

http://www.savethechildren.org/

Why I chose this organization: Save the Children has been an organization that has been dedicated to the well-being of children since 1919. Two of their core values are self-help and self-reliance; along with the idea of development as the process by which people “take charge of their own lives”. Some of the activities that the organization is involved in include; Child Protection, Child Survival, Education, Health and Nutrition, HIV & AIDS prevention and treatment, Hunger and Livelihoods, and Emergency Response.

 

Job Opportunity: Advisor: Early Childhood Development in Mozambique. This position involves the support, design and implementation of early childhood development projects in the country. Responsibilities include build staff’s capacity for program activities, ensure that methods of monitoring and evaluation are in place to improve the program and measure the direct impact, share best practices with staff

 

Qualifications: Master’s Degree in International Education/Developmental Psychology/Cultural Anthropology with a focus in Early Childhood Development, 3 years’ experience in Early Childhood Development, Fluency in Portuguese and English (written and oral).

 

Save the Children. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm

 

 

 

 

Fhi360

http:www.aed.org/

 

Why I chose this organization: Fhi 360’s basic philosophy revolves around the interconnectedness of all that exists. Their mission is to “generate, share and apply knowledge, empower individuals, families and communities to tackle their own challenges. These philosophies are in line with my own.

 

Job Opportunity: Program Assistant, Global Connections. This position involves the support of the International Visitors Leadership Program whose mission is”to build mutual understanding between the United States and other nations through visits for emerging foreign leaders.

 

Qualifications: Bachelor’s Degree, excellent organizational skills, ability to multi-task, strong oral and written skills, strong computer skills, ability to communicate cross-culturally.

 

Academy for Educational Development. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.aed.org/en/index.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

National Organizations Working to End Hunger and Malnutrition in Early Childhood

My challenge is malnutrition/hunger in early childhood.

 

Feeding America

http://feedingamerica.org/

 

Mission: Feeding America is the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity. Our mission is to feed America's hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks and engage our country in the fight to end hunger.

Values: respect, stewardship & accountability, collaboration, urgency, service

Why I Chose This Organization: Feeding America’s values and mission are compatible with my personal ethics. They offer assistance without allowing families to become dependent upon the services.

Career Opportunity: Program Capacity Associate-Chicago- help to increase the capacity of the organization through providing training, peer learning and knowledge sharing experiences

Qualifications: BA/BS required; Advanced degree in Administration, Sociology,  or Social Work preferred; experience working with collaborative groups, excellent written and oral communication skills, ability to think creatively and strategically as part of a team.

 

No Kid Hungry-Share Our Strengths

http://www.nokidhungry.org/

 

Mission: The No Kid Hungry campaign connects kids in need with nutritious food and teaches their families how to cook healthy, affordable meals. The campaign also engages the public to make ending childhood hunger a national priority.

Activities: Organizes fundraising programs to raise money for hunger relief including, Taste of the Nation, Chefs on Bikes, Dine Out.

Why I Chose This Organization: This organization addresses the problem of hunger amongst children, which is directly related to my challenge.

Career Opportunity: New England regional Manager for Culinary Events-raise money through events to support goals of the organization, manage cultivate and maintain culinary, sponsor and volunteer relationships in New England.

Qualifications: BA in Marketing, Communication, Community Development and Public Service or related field, excellent oral and written communication skills, ability to work with multiple diverse groups, ability to handle multiple activities, events and projects simultaneously.

 

Congressional Hunger Center

http://www.hungercenter.org/

 

Our Mission Statement: CHC trains and inspires leaders who work to end hunger, and advocates public policies that create a food secure world.

Our Vision Statement: CHC is a leader in the movement to ensure access to food as a basic human right for all people. We create and nurture a community of innovative and inspiring leaders who act as change agents, bridging the gap between grassroots efforts and national and international public policy to provide access to nutritious, affordable and culturally appropriate food.

Why I chose this organization: The approach to the challenge of ending hunger, developing leaders who are capable, willing and concerned regarding the issue, is unique.

Career Opportunity: Communication Consultant; must have strong written skills, knowledge of traditional and social media, experience working on hunger and children’s issues; responsible for twitter message campaigns, emails, press communication and construction of media contacts list.

 

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community

Lewis County Opportunities

http://www.lewiscountyopportunities.com/

 

Mission:

Lewis County Opportunities, Inc. is a Community Action Agency dedicated to working together with those in need. Our employees, Board members, and volunteers use a compassionate and respectful approach to promote a higher quality of life in our community.

 

Vision:

Opportunities should never lose sight of what community action represents—to serve the needs of the community. This is accomplished through positive employee interaction with consumers, good overall coordination between the Agency with other organizations, and a commitment by Board members and employees alike to address community needs

 

Offerings:

Lewis County Opportunities offers several different programs aimed toward helping those in need.  The programs include domestic violence counseling, subsidies to assist with transportation to work, home loan assistance, Holiday Sharing, and Family Development Assistance.

 

Desirable Career: Family Development Worker

Skills/Competencies Necessary: Ability to connect with families, assess the needs of families, assist families with goal setting, completion of goals and assistance getting to the next step in the process. Must have good communication, negotiation skills, must be compassionate, organized and have a genuine desire to work with families in need.

 

Northern Regional Center for Independent Living

http://nrcil.net/

 

About: Northern Regional Center for Independent Living is a community-based disability rights and resource center. We were started in 1987 with a grant from the New York State Education Department, through the work of a grassroots group called Citizens United for the Removal of Barriers (CURB) and the Disabled Persons Action Organization. We are now part of a network of 37 Independent Living Centers in New York State and over 450 Centers across the nation.

 

Offerings: Independent Living Services, Parent Training and Resource Center, Special Education Parent Training and Resource Center, Family Support Services

 

Desirable Career: Family Support Worker/ Youth Advocate

Skills/Competencies: NYS Family/Peer Advocate Credential, ability to work with families, assistance with advocacy in realm of special education, transportation accommodations, necessary adaptations for children with disabilities

Community Action Planning Council

http://www.capcjc.org/

 

Mission: The Community Action Planning Council assists, supports and empowers people through diverse programs designed to alleviate poverty, promote self-sufficiency and advance community prosperity.

 

Vision: The Community Action Planning Council envisions a prosperous community where all people are valued, supported, empowered and successful. CAPC is a valued resource that tirelessly protects and continuously expands these characteristics, building a community where opportunities are abundant and people help themselves and each other.

 

Offerings: Head Start & Pre-K programs, Home Weatherization, Family Assistance Center, Jefferson-Lewis Childcare Project (Early Childhood Education Professional Development, Childcare Resource & Referral), Food Pantry & Nutrition Program

 

Desirable Careers: Head Start Master Teacher

 

Skills & Competencies: Ability to partner with families to empower them and help them to achieve their goals, background in Early Childhood Education, sincere desire to work with children and their families,

 

Hopes for the Future and a Thank you

My most passionate hope for the future of early childhood education is that every program, teacher and family will subscribe to, utilize, and live the principles of anti-bias education. I also hope that the goals of anti-bias education are realized for every child. If these goals come to fruition, the social and intellectual evolution of our society would be accelerated. Peace would be prevalent and the world would be a better place in which to live.

I would like to thank my colleagues for their frank feedback, comments and input. I have learned from your life experience and insight. I wish you all the best of luck with your degree program and with your career!

Careyann

Week 6-So Sexy So Soon

I agree with the contentions of the authors of So Sexy So Soon. I believe that children are exposed to both overt and covert sexual messages via the media and popular culture. This type of influence reduces the length of childhood. Thoughts and ideas beget action. Once action is taken and sexual experiences have occurred, childhood is over. A whole host of feelings, thoughts and issues that a child is not equipped to deal with follow. One can never return to innocence. Media is not only to blame. Parents are responsible for controlling their children’s exposure to media of all types. Children who have unmonitored access to TV, DVDs, social media, the internet and cell phones are open to inappropriate influences (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009).

Little girl’s clothing with words like “Baby Doll”, “Juicy”, or “Cutie” printed on the butt are a common example of the sexualization of children via their clothing. Words printed on a garment are meant to draw attention to the area on which they are printed. In this case, the message attracts attention to the child’s bottom. When I taught Pre-K, I had a girl in my class who was prone to performing for her peers. One morning during free play, she grabbed a slender cylindrical block, fluffed her blonde, curly hair before singing (with gusto) “Before He Cheats” and dancing provocatively before an audience of her classmates. She knew all of the words to the song which included references to sex acts, violence, vandalism and alcohol consumption. The popularity of songs like, “Disco Stick” and “I’m Sexy and I Know It” amongst preschool children tells me that parents may not monitor the music to which their children listen. A third example of sex in the media and pop culture is the increasingly younger age at which children are describing themselves and others as hot or sexy. A friend who teaches in a school age recreation program, conducted an activity during which each child wrote his name on a piece of paper and taped it to a table. Next, the children milled around the room and wrote one compliment on each child’s piece of paper. While gathering up the completed papers, my friend noticed that, on one of the girl’s papers, someone had written “She’s so hot!”. A class meeting followed regarding the incident. The girl to whom the compliment was written admitted privately to the teacher that she had written the comment about herself.

According to Levin and Kilbourne (2009),developmentally inappropriate sexual messages delivered to young children could affect their definitions of feminity, masculinity, the polarization of gender roles, a skewing of the value of people, frighten and confuse children, cause sexual promiscuity and precociousness (p 2). Early childhood educators can counter this influence by questioning issues regarding gender stereotypes, sexual messages, and provocative utterances by facilitating thought provoking discussions and asking questions that help children to question their actions and influences (p3).

       Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf

Week 5- The Effects of Isms

According to Derman-Sparks and Olsen Edwards (2010), isms are “the many forms of institutionalized prejudice and discrimination based on social identities…” (p xii). People who hold isms are not always aware that their behavior and interactions are governed by them. Additionally, Derman-Sparks and Olsen Edwards assert that, “because we all have multiple social identities, each of us contains a complex set of internalized privileges and oppressions, with differing balances between the two” (p 27). Internalized oppression occurs when the victim of the ism believes the information about himself as a result of the treatment that he receives from others resulting in psychological consequences. These consequences manifest in behaviors that include denial of affiliation with one’s own culture, adoption of the dominant culture out of a belief that the ways of the dominant culture are better, correct or more acceptable. Rejection of one’s own name, native language, traditions and values may also occur (p 26).

Most recently, I have experienced an ism in the form of discrimination and bias due to my appearance. I have full tattooed sleeves on my arms. At my former place of employment, my supervisor’s supervisor called me into her office after she noticed my tattoos at an after-hours picnic. Although my work associates were attending the picnic, I was not being paid to attend the function and it was not held at our work site. Nothing was mentioned at the picnic. However, the following Monday afternoon my supervisor’s supervisor called me to her office and told me that she was disturbed by my tattoos. She felt that, because I had tattoos, that I must be mentally ill, have a great deal of self-hate (to mutilate myself in this way) or be an intravenous drug addict who used her many tattoos to hide track marks. Additionally, the executive stated that if I must not want to be in the field of early childhood education if I had tattoos (It must be noted that this woman was not in the field of early childhood education, but was a corporate executive whom I rarely saw). At first, I was dumbstruck. I had never heard such a narrow minded rant in my life! Not one of her allegations was even remotely true!  I had always kept my tattoos covered at work, not because there was an explicit policy preventing the staff from showing tattoos, but because I wasn’t certain about the reaction that I would get from parents, other staff and the executives of the company. Curiously enough, at the picnic, many of the parents admired my tattoos, and the children were very interested in “all of the pictures on [my] arm”.  One little girl was so excited that she screamed, “Oh Carey, I lub your tattoos!”. I could not understand from whence the director’s supervisor’s reaction came. In the end, she made it clear that she did not want to see the tattoos, but did not articulate a policy regarding whether or not showing them was prohibited (many other staff showed their tattoos without an adverse reaction) as a rule. It seemed that she did not like my tattoos, but those of others were acceptable to her.

The effects of this episode of discrimination were many. I became aware of the potentially negative thoughts that people might entertain about my tattoos. I found myself apologizing if even a tiny bit of my tattoos were visible. I also began to cover my tattoos in public in my off work hours and revealing them in only certain company. During this time, the children who had seen my tattoos at the picnic were very interested in seeing them again. Both the children and parents asked why I did not show them off more often. I found myself feeling somewhat ashamed of the reaction that I had gotten from the executive regarding my tattoos. I felt very cognizant of how I appeared and was even reluctant to pull my sleeves above my wrists when working with the children in a messy activity. The children noticed this and asked questions. I wonder if the shame that I felt about my tattooed arms sent an unintentional message to the children that somehow tattoos are inappropriate or unacceptable. Many of the parents are tattooed. What if the children carried my unintentional message home to their parents?

Shortly after this incident, I regained my pride in my tattoos. They are an important part of me and symbolize parts of my life that have made me who I am today. They are beautiful pieces of art, but do not solely comprise who I am. I am neither better nor worse than anyone else simply because I am tattooed. I realized that I was the victim of bias and discrimination in the workplace.

Derman-Sparks and Olsen Edwards (2010). Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves. NAEYC: Washington, DC.